"Taoist terminology was used to express Buddhist doctrines in the oldest translations of Buddhist texts,[14] a practice termed ko-i, "matching the concepts",[17] while the emerging Chinese Buddhism had to compete with Taoism and Confucianism.[11]The first Buddhist recruits in China were Taoists.[14] Against this background, especially the Taoist concept of naturalness seemed to have been inherited by the early Chán disciples:[18] they equated—to some extent—the ineffable Tao and Buddha-nature,[19] and thus, rather than feeling bound to the abstract "wisdom of the sūtras", emphasized Buddha-nature to be found in "everyday" human life, just as the Tao.[19]In addition to Taoist ideas, also Neo-Taoist concepts were taken over in Chinese Buddhism.[17] Concepts such as "T’i -yung" (Essence and Function) and "Li-shih" (Noumenon and Phenomenon) were first taken over by Hua-yen Buddhism,[17] which consequently influenced Chán deeply.[20] On the other hand, Taoists at first misunderstood sunyata to be akin to the Taoist non-being.[21]"

"Nothing can be known, not even this."-- Arcesilaus (but I'm not sure)

TAO is two things: The great mother that birthed all, as also the path to her; DHARMA tells how functions the relation between our will and Tao's will; BODHIMIND is the clear&clean, untarnished state of mind that allows to always recognize the dharma of a situation. /\

I've a book called "The Tao of Zen" by Ray Grigg sitting right here on my self!The premise of this book is that "Zen is Taoism disguised at Buddhism"The chapters of comparison of philosophical similarities are : Wordlessness, selflessness, softness, oneness, emptiness, nothingness, balance, paradox, non-doing, spontaneity, ordinaryness, playfulness, and suchness.

I think I was into Taoism and Zen before being introduced to Tibetan Buddhism. I think the Tao concept is similar to dharma in the idea of the way or path. The terms are different but the ideas and process are similar in many ways.

Bodhidharma is said to have brought Buddhism to China by 520AD but it is known to have been well established long before that according to this book. An interest in Taoism is said to have been revived by the spread in Buddhism as well. And at times Buddhism was regarded as a sect of religious Taoism in China.